Engelbert Humperdinck - Warmest Christmas Wishes '2018

Tracks list

Tracklist
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01. Please Come Home for Christmas
02. Driving Home for Christmas
03. Christmas Song (Im Not Dreaming of a White Christmas)
04. Ill Be Home for Christmas
05. Snowy Christmas (Medley)
06. A Christmas for the Family
07. Silently Falls the Snow
08. O Tannenbaum
09. Still Still Still
10. Silent Night
11. Around the Christmas Tree
12. White Christmas
13. What Are You Doing New Years Eve?
14. Leise rieselt der Schnee

Ultrasmooth balladeer Engelbert Humperdinck was often billed as The King of
Romance, and for millions of fans around the world, he more than lived up to
that title. Despite the strange name and the latter-day ads hawking his music on
late-night TV, Humperdinck was one of the finest middle of the road balladeers
around, a sensitive lyric interpreter with excellent vocal technique and a
three-and-a-half-octave vocal range. During his heyday in the late 60s and early
70s, Humperdinck cultivated the image of a mysterious heartthrob, sporting
shaggy sideburns and a flamboyant wardrobe that, when coupled with his rich,
silky crooning, drove female fans wild. He was especially popular in Europe and
his native U.K., and his worldwide record sales -- counting both albums and
singles -- eventually totaled well over 100 million. Like his friendly rival Tom
Jones (with whom he shared a manager for many years), he later settled into a
comfortable niche as a stalwart of the Las Vegas entertainment circuit.

Humperdinck was born Arnold George Dorsey on May 2, 1936, in Madras, India. His
father worked as an engineer for the British Army, and the family returned to
England when Arnold was seven, settling in Leicester. He took up the saxophone
at age 11, but didnt really try his hand at singing until 17, when his friends
talked him into entering a small local singing contest. Not only did he earn a
standing ovation, he also impressed the audience with a knack for comic
impressions, particularly Jerry Lewis (which he often included in his later live
shows). In fact, his Lewis impression gave him his first stage name, Gerry
Dorsey. He started singing in nightclubs, but after finishing school, he put his
budding music career on hold to serve in the military through 1956.

When Dorsey returned, he got the chance to record for Decca in 1958, but the
lone single released, Ill Never Fall in Love Again, flopped. He managed a few
appearances on British television, most prominently on the show Oh, Boy!, and
toured with Marty Wilde; the exposure helped him become a popular concert
attraction in his own right, even though he had no hits of his own. His career
was nearly derailed in 1961 when he contracted tuberculosis, which kept him
completely out of commission for six months; once he recovered, he found that
Englands burgeoning rock & roll movement was pushing more traditional pop out of
the spotlight.

As Gerry Dorsey, he struggled for several years until he got in touch with
former roommate Gordon Mills in 1965. Once the lead singer of a skiffle group
called the Viscounts, Mills had moved into artist management, and at the time
was enjoying breakout success with Tom Jones. It was Mills who suggested that
Dorsey change his name to the well-nigh unforgettable Engelbert Humperdinck,
after the 19th century Austrian composer who adapted Hansel and Gretel into an
opera. To create an air of mystery around the singer, Mills insisted that he
refrain from any contact with his fans following concerts, even if that meant
escaping through windows. The gimmicks worked, as the newly christened
Humperdinck scored a new deal with Decca. His first two singles, Dommage Dommage
and Stay, were released in 1966, and both missed the charts. But the third time
proved to be the charm. In 1967, Humperdinck cut a pop-ballad version of Release
Me, previously a hit for country singer Ray Price and R&B chanteuse Esther
Phillips; Humperdincks cover made the song a standard. Given some exposure by
the singers last-minute addition to a bill at the London Palladium, it rocketed
to the top of the British charts and sold over a million copies, ultimately
keeping the Beatles seminal double-sided hit Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields
Forever out of the top spot. It also went to number four in America, where the
accompanying album made the Top Ten.

Release Me kicked off a streak of seven straight Top Five hits in the U.K.,
which lasted into 1969. Those hits included There Goes My Everything, the
million-selling number one The Last Waltz, Am I That Easy to Forget, A Man
Without Love, Les Bicyclettes de Belsize, and The Way It Used to Be. While they
werent as successful on the American pop charts (none reached the Top Ten), they
all made the Top Ten on the easy listening charts; his albums of the 1967-1970
period sold well, too, as his first six all landed in the Top 20. Humperdincks
string of easy listening hits continued apace in the early 70s; 1970 brought
Winter World of Love, Sweetheart, and My Marie, and the following year Another
Time, Another Place, and When Theres No You. By this time, Humperdinck had
become a hugely popular live act, touring extensively on the cabaret and
nightclub circuits, and became a regular in Las Vegas as well.

Humperdinck concerts were such a profitable enterprise, in fact, that the
singers management began to de-emphasize recordings, instead encouraging him to
continue touring. As a result, the chart placements of his less frequent new
material were suffering considerably by the mid-70s. In late 1976, after signing
a new deal with Epic, Humperdinck did return to make his second appearance in
the American Top Ten with After the Lovin, an adult contemporary chart-topper
that also made the lower reaches of the country charts. The album of the same
name made the Top 20 and gave him his biggest-selling LP since 1970. Humperdinck
topped the adult contemporary charts one last time with 1979s This Moment in
Time, and had his last chart single in 1983, with Til You and Your Lover Are
Lovers Again.

Humperdinck continued to make a profitable living on tour and in Las Vegas,
still commanding a sizable female following; by this time, his act featured
several celebrity impressions -- not just Jerry Lewis, but Dean Martin, Elvis
Presley, and Julio Iglesias. Compilations of his work were heavily advertised
through direct-marketing campaigns on American television, keeping his sales at
a steady pace; he also re-recorded much of his material in different languages,
helping maintain his popularity across Europe. He attempted a recording comeback
with the 1987 album Remember I Love You, which featured a duet with Gloria
Gaynor and wound up earning him a Golden Globe Entertainer of the Year award.
The lounge revival of the 90s helped bring traditional pop and smooth crooning
back into fashion, and Humperdinck found himself with a new hip cachet; he
capitalized by recording Lesbian Seagull, a song for the Beavis and Butt-Head Do
America soundtrack, in 1996. He followed it with a foray into contemporary
dance-pop, The Dance Album, for the Interhit label in 1998; a new version of
Release Me had some success in the dance clubs.

In 2003, Humperdinck paired with producer Art Greenhaw for the roots and gospel
album Always Hear the Harmony: The Gospel Sessions. The album featured
collaborations with the Jordanaires, the Blackwood Brothers, the Light Crust
Doughboys, and others. Well received, it garnered Humperdinck his second
Grammy-nomination, this time for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel
Album. The romantic Let There Be Love, followed in 2005. Two years later, he
returned with The Winding Road, which featured songs by Eric Clapton, John
Lennon, Christine McVie, and others.

Over the next several years, Humperdinck stayed active touring. In 2012, he
returned to the charts while representing the United Kingdom in the Eurovision
Song Contest with the single Love Will Set You Free. The studio album Man I Want
to Be appeared in 2017 and included covers of songs by Ed Sheeran, and Bruno
Mars. Also that year, celebrated the 50th anniversary of his most famous
performance, Release Me, with the greatest-hits album 50. Featured were 35 of
the crooners best-loved songs, along with two newly minted recordings, Follow My
Heart and I Dont Want to Call It Goodbye. ~ Steve Huey

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